Hand massager



Dec. 22, 1959 .1. w. BOERGER HAND MASSAGER Filed March 11, 1957 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JULIUS w. BOERGER ATTORNEYS Dee: 22, 1959 J. w.BOERGER HAND MASSAGER Filed March 11, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F IN VENTORJULlU S W. BOERGER ATTORNEYS States HAND MASSAGER Application March 11,1957, Serial No. 645,124 2 Claims. (Cl. 12841) This invention appertainsto massaging machines and, more particularly, to a massage machineadapted to be attached to the hand.

There has been a trend in recent years, to provide massage machines thatmay be held in the hand and, more particularly, efforts have been madeto provide a machine that will vibrate the hands or fingers so that thefingers may be free to massage and the vibration of the machine will betransmitted thereto. Heretofore, massage machines of the above type haveusually been strapped to the palm or back of the hand with the machineresting directly on the back of the palm and held there by means ofsuitable straps or the like. This required a relatively heavy motor toimpart the necessary vibration to the fingers and usually some sort ofeccentric weight was employed. While these machines possessed certainadvantages over the hand held implements, they nevertheless wererelatively heavy, thus tiring the user and were complicated both fromthe handling and the manufacturing standpoint.

There has long been a need, therefore, for a lightweight machine thatcould be attached primarily to the fingers and have means whereby thevibration is transmitted directly to the fingers rather than to the backof the hand, thus eliminating the need for heavy motors, eccentricweights and various types of complicated harnesses.

A primary object of my present invention is to provide a massage machinein which means is provided to support the vibratory portion of themachine on the back of the fingers instead of on the back of the palm.

Another object of my present invention is to provide novel means forproperly positioning and attaching the device to the fingers.

A further object of my present invention resides in the shape of thehousing in that it is formed up and away towards the rear of the hand toallow freedom of action of the fingers when the hand is in astraightened position.

A salient feature of my present invention resides in providing a massagemachine having novel means for mounting the electromagnet and armaturein the casing or cover in that the armature is rigidly fastened to abase plate of the housing and the electromagnet being free to swing itsgreater weight in a vibratory motion directly over the fingers of thehand, thus increasing its motion in relation to its size over any otherknown type of machine.

A still further object of my invention resides in the novel placement ofthe finger straps or loops wherein a center holding means is providedfor the two middle fingers with a loop on either side to engage thesmall and index fingers, respectively, thereby holding the machine in alinear position with the hand to allow a maximum of freedom of the handand fingers to massage in any position.

A still further object of my present invention resides in its uniquedesign providing the single set of finger straps, the housing to givethe maximum weight and vibration directly over the single finger pad.

Another important object resides in providing a massage device of theabove character which eliminates the need for heavy motors or eccentricweights, requires no additional straps or harnesses and gives a morepenetrating free vibration motion to the fingers.

Patented Dec. 22, 1959 A further object of my invention resides inproviding a simple, practical and reliable construction that iseconomical to manufacture, easy to assemble and positive in itsoperation.

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appearas the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of my invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of my novel machine shown in properposition on the fingers of the hand;

Figure 2 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the machine shown in Figure1 of the drawings, the machine being removed from the hand andillustrating the novel arrangement of the hand pad, finger pad andfinger loops in the machine;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view on the same scale as Figure 2 ofthe drawings;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view in section showing details inconstruction and relative position of the armature and electromagnetdirectly over the finger pad, the position of the hand being illustratedin dotted lines;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the machine with the cover removed tofurther illustrate the positions of the various parts;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary transverse section taken through the machineon the line 66 of Figure 4 of the drawings looking in the direction ofthe arrows and showing the manner in which the finger pad and fingerloops are attached to the machine, and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary side eievational view in sec tion of theforward end of the machine similar to Figure 4 but illustrating how thefinger pad and finger loops may be removed and a vibrating tool used inlieu thereof.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,the letter M generally indicates my novel massage machine and the sameincludes broadly, a casing 10 housing the armature 11 (which is rigidlysecured to the base plate 13), electromagnet 12., the hand pad 14,finger pad 15 and the finger loops l6 and 17 (which are secured directlyunder the armature and free-swinging end of the electromagnet).

The housing 1% also includes, besides the base plate 13 and the hand pad14, a cover 18 having a top 19, a front wall 2% rear wall 21 and sidewalls 22. The base plate 13 is secured to the front and rear wallsadjacent the lower ends thereof by means of screws or the like 23 whichextend through suitable apertures 24 provided in the base plate andcover. It should be noted that the side walls of the cover terminateconsiderably beyond the base plate 13 so that the hand pad will cover aconsiderable portion of the back of the palm as illustrated more clearlyin Figure l of the drawings and the hand pad 14 may be secured to thebase plate by any desired means, such as gluing or riveting as indicatedby the numeral 25.

The shape of the base plate 13 and hand pad 14 is important in that eachincludes a substantially horizontal stretch 26 and 27, respectively, anupward and rearwardly extending stretch 28 and 29, respectively, and ashort substantially horizontal rearward stretch 3t and 31, respectively.This shape, up and away towards the rear, allows for freedom of actionof the hand H when the hand is in a substantially straight position asillustrated in full lines in Figure l and dotted lines in Figure 4 ofthe drawings.

Directly over the fingers F is the enlarged aforementioned finger pad 15and this pad is substantially thicker than the hand pad 14 and issecuredto thetrans-- versely extending loop holding plate 32 which, inturn, is secured directly to the forward portion 26 of the base plate13., The finger pad is substantially rectangular in shape but the rearportion 33 has its top surface cut out to receive the section 27 of thefinger pad 14 and also is cut inwardly at the sides 34 for a purposewhich will become readily apparent as the description proceeds.

It should also be noted that the side portions of the hand pad 14 extendbeyond the side portions of the finger pad 15 and its upper side wallsare extended to forman upper peripheral flange 35 into which the rearand side walls of the cover 18 are received to-give a finishedappearance to the device.

A salient feature of my invention resides in the posi tioning of thearmature 11 and electromagnet 12 directly over the finger pad 15. Thisis facilitated by securing the armature 11 and a U-shaped springvibratory element 36 to the base plate 13 and the base leg 38 of thevibratory element 36 is secured between the armature 11 and the baseplate 13 and all are secured by means of rivets 37 or the like. Theelectromagnet 12 is mounted on the U-shaped spring vibratory element 36by fastening the same to the upper leg 40 utilizing suitable screws 39.The coils of the electromagnet are connected to any suitable source ofpower (not shown) through wires 41 and 42. Incorporated in the wire 42is a hand switch 43 to enable the current to be shut off or on asdesired and this switch 43 may be of any known make and, therefore, neednot be shown or described in detail.

The finger loop holding plate 32 is turned downwardly and rolled at eachend to provide a pair of parallel barrel portions 44 spaced on eitherside of the finger pad 15 and these barrels are received in the cut-outportions 34 as shown. Further, each barrel is provided with a plurality,preferably four, of spaced transverse slots 45 and each series of slotsare aligned with a respective series on the opposite barrel. The fingerloops or straps 16 for the two middle fingers include three alignedcenter loops 46, the hooked ends 47 of which are received in the firstthree slots respectively. While the finger loops 16 and 17 may be of anydesired construction, it is preferable that they be resilient andelastic and in the preferred form, they are made from light springmetal. I also provide side loops 17, one loop 48 for the index fingerand one loop 49 for the little finger and each of these loops 17 areformed from a single resilient metal band or loop and both ends 50 arebrought together and inserted in the same slot.

For each barrel portion 44 I provide a locking pintle 51 which slidesinto the barrel and through the rounded or hooked ends 46 and 50,respectively, of the finger loops 16 and 17 to securely hold the same inposition.

As previously mentioned, the finger pad 15 is secured to thetransversely extending loop ho ding plate 32 and the whole attachment issecured to the base plate 13. This is accomplished by the followingconstruction (note Figure 6). Suitable aligned apertures 52 are providedin the loop holding plate 32 and in the base plate 13 to receive thescrews or bolts 53 and imbedded in the finger pad 15 in proper alignmentwith the apertures are a pair of spaced nuts 54. Obviously, by looseningthe screws 53, the finger pad 15 and the finger holding plate 32 may beremoved and it should be noted that both the armature and the base plateare provided with enlarged aligned central apertures 55 so that, ifdesired, the shank 56 of a massage tool 57 may be received therein.construction having a rubber massage end 58 and the device is then heldin the hand and used as any present day hand held massage device.However, it should be stressed that the positioning of the armature,electromagnet and vibratory element will still enable the device toprovide a maximum vibratory massage movement.

From theabove, it can be seen" that I have provided This tool 57, ofcourse, may be of a standard a novel hand massage device in which thefinger loops are attached directly to the fingers with the armature andvibratory weight directly over the fingers and not the back of the palm,therefore giving a maximum vibratory movement to the fingers with aminimum of weight and it is understood that changes in detail andconstruction may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hand massage device for vibrating the fingers of the operator andattached to the fingers of the operator only comprising a housing,including a cover having top, front, rear and side walls, a base platesecured to said front and rear walls forming a bottom and supportingplate for said device, a finger pad secured to the under portion of saidbase plate adjacent the forward end thereof, a hand pad secured to saidbase plate rearwardly of said finger pad, said housing being shapedupwardly and away towards the rear to allow freedom of action of thehand when the hand is in a straightened position and including astraight portion overlying the fingers, a straight portion overlying theback of the hand in rear of the fingers and an upwardly and rearwardlydirected portion connecting the two straight portions, finger loopssecured adjacent said finger pad, a fiat armature rigidly positioned insaid housing directly above said finger pad, a U-shaped spring vibratoryelement secured to said base plate at a point adjacent the rear portionof said finger pad and having its upper leg spaced from and extendingforwardly and horizontally with said base plate and over said armature,and an electromagnet in said housing adjacent said armature secured tosaid upper leg adjacent the forward end thereof and having itsfree-swinging end directly above said armature and said finger pad,whereby said electromagnet is free to swing its greater weight in avibratory motion directly above the finger pad, thus increasing itsmotion relative to its size and imparting said vibration directly to thefingers.

2. A hand massage device for vibrating the fingers of the operator andattached to the fingers only of the operator comprising a housing,including a cover having top, front, rear and side walls, a base platesecured to said front and rear walls forming a bottom and supportingplate for said device, a finger pad secured to the under portion of saidbase plate adjacent the forward end thereof, a hand pad secured to saidbase plate rearwardly of said finger pad, finger loops secured adjacentsaid finger pad, a fiat armature rigidly positioned in said housingdirectly above said finger pad, a U shaped spring vibratory elementsecured to said base plate at a point adjacent the rear portion of saidfinger pad and having its upper leg spaced from and extending for wardlyand horizontally with said base plate and over said armature, and anelectromagnet in said-housing adjacent said armature secured to saidupper leg adjacent the forward end thereof and having its free-swingingend directly above said armature and said finger pad, whereby saidelectromagnet is free to swing its greater weight in a vibratory motiondirectly above'the finger pad, thus increasing its motion relative toits size and imparting said vibration directly to the fingers, and saidfinger loops including a center loop for the two middle fingers and apair of spaced loops one on each side and slightly to the rear of thecenter loop to engage the small and index fingers respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent- UNITED STATES PATENTS994,270 OBrien June 6, 1911 1,818,287 Wahl Aug. 11, 1 931 2,286,089Harris June 9, 1942 2,468,949 Snyder May 3 1942 2,768,621 Wahl' Oct. 30,1956

